There's worse things than using RBIs to judge players

by benderbrodriguez on Feb 28, 2010 9:47 PM EST

I looked at correlations between wOBA and some of the mainstream stats, and I was somewhat surprised by the results.

Batting Average: .591

RBIs: .639

Homers: .673

Steals: -.005

Runs Scored: .642

The strong correlation with homers is surprising, as is the tiny correlation for steals.

I also looked at wRC, and some things jumped out here too.

Hits: .739

Homers: .605

RBIs: .674

Steals: .161

Runs: .837

RBIs and runs scored don't come in last if you're looking at total run production OR at rate of run production. Who would've thought?

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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Comments

You're providing the right answer to the wrong question.

“RBIs” is a decent peripheral statistic that we can use to get an idea of how well a player hits, especially with a runner on base. A hitter with 160 RBIs over the course of a season likely hit for significant power and hit well. That said, there are simply many, many better stats with which to evaluate the skill and talent level of a player, so it makes sense to use those ones.

by .Taylor on Feb 28, 2010 9:53 PM EST reply actions

I'm not defending the use of RBIs as an evaluation statistic, perhaps my title was misleading

This was just my use of excel to see which of the mainstream stats are best indicators of performance, and my surprise at seeing that two of the most widely blogger-bashed statistics aren’t worse than batting average.

by benderbrodriguez on Feb 28, 2010 10:06 PM EST up reply actions

Not to say that batting average isn't bashed either

It’s a bad statistic too.

by benderbrodriguez on Feb 28, 2010 10:07 PM EST up reply actions

RBI's provide some information on skill with hitting with runners on base

That information is obviously dwarfed by the luck involved in them, but they aren’t useless. And for value purposes, do you really care if the fact that a player hit .500 wRISP is repeatable or not? It still happened.

by vivaelpujols on Mar 2, 2010 12:25 AM EST up reply actions

This makes me want to go to the heater and test my mettle exaulting the quality of a player solely and exclusively on the number of steals they have, and how successful they are.

"Sure, because of the "cold weather" and rain." More bait and switch tactics by the New York owners of this team." --NikoHoullis, the lead blogger at Buc'em on racial and anti-semitic insensitivity.

by kericr on Mar 1, 2010 12:38 AM EST reply actions

Well it's pretty obvious, isn't it?

Having a lot of RBI or runs probably means you’re a good hitter.

by Graham MacAree on Mar 1, 2010 4:54 PM EST reply actions

but being a good hitter in no way means that you will have a lot of RBI.

and having a lot of RBI is not a good indicator that you will have a lot of RBI in the future

Regressing to the mean streets of St. Pete

by stpetelawyer on Mar 1, 2010 5:45 PM EST up reply actions

Yes... it is

by vivaelpujols on Mar 2, 2010 12:25 AM EST up reply actions

not if you dont have guys in base in front of you.

RBI numbers fluctuate greatly depending on how everyone else on your team performs.

Regressing to the mean streets of St. Pete

by stpetelawyer on Mar 3, 2010 9:13 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

Sure

That’s means they’re less predictive than advanced measures. They’re still highly correlated year to year.

by Graham MacAree on Mar 3, 2010 10:04 AM EST up reply actions

This guy gets it

http://lawsonunleashed.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/numbers-its-in-the-bible-after-all/

Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.

by Andy Hellicksonstine on Mar 2, 2010 11:56 AM EST reply actions

Unreal.

One more year Brett. One more year.

by PriceMultiCyYoungs on Mar 2, 2010 2:09 PM EST up reply actions

Wow, that's absolutely incredible.

I’m not going to grab a hold of an automotive repair manual written in the 19th century and say that I’m a mechanic because I’ve read the thing cover-to-cover and understand how the Otto cycle works, then turn around and try to rebuild a Wankel engine. I’m sure as hell not going to tell a certified Mazda technician that he spends too much time reading about newfangled technologies and that I can do his job just as well as he can.

Furthermore, if that Mazda technician ever ran into someone who DID try that act, I’d hope that the mechanic would haul off and clobber the shit out of that idiot with a breaker bar.

"Sure, because of the "cold weather" and rain." More bait and switch tactics by the New York owners of this team." --NikoHoullis, the lead blogger at Buc'em on racial and anti-semitic insensitivity.

by kericr on Mar 2, 2010 11:20 PM EST up reply actions